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Washington, D.C. Group Trying to Raid Georgia Sportsmans Funding
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An international group, Earth ECHO, wants to take away Georgia funds donated for wildlife management. Take action and tell your Senator to oppose HB 639.
License plate donations have helped secure hunting and fishing access for Georgians. An international group, Earth ECHO, wants to take away those funds donated for wildlife management. The Support Wildlife and Bobwhite Quail Initiative license plate donations fund critical programs in support of hunting and fishing. Dont let an out-of-state organization take dollars up to Washington, D.C. Georgia wildlife tag donations don't need to bail out any out-of-state groups who might spend those funds in other states or other countries.
While state legislators wrestle with a dwindling budget, every Georgia dollar counts when providing for sportsmans programs. Georgia hunters and fishermen have been the beneficiary of hundreds of thousands of dollars raised through wildlife license plates. License plate donations have been used to help purchase many Wildlife Management Areas and Public Fishing Areas used by thousands of Georgia sportsmen and their families. Unfortunately, a Washington, D.C. group has hired big oil lobbyists and created a false network of state offices to pass laws for their out-of-state fundraising efforts using our wildlife tags as the hook. Where will YOUR GEORGIA TAG DONATIONS GO??? Who knows -- Washington, D.C., Boca Raton, Florida, California?
The Georgia DNR, Wildlife Resources Division contains several sections including Law Enforcement, Game, Non-Game and Fisheries. Each section is critical in supporting sportsmens access to quality wildlife and wildlife habitat in support of our hunting and fishing opportunities. All sections are funded through the General Fund of the state of Georgia, EXCEPT the Non-Game section. It gets most of its funding through private donations -- 62% from the wildlife license plates on Georgia vehicles. Those are GEORGIA license plate donations spent IN GEORGIA for all GEORGIANS. In fact, Non-Game funds have been used in many land acquisitions for Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). It was the Non-Game section that helped secure the most recent purchases of Paulding Forests, the Ft. Barrington Tract on the Altamaha River and the 8,400-acre Silver Lake tract at Lake Seminole in Decatur County. The Non-Game section is responsible for securing the Paradise Public Fishing Area in Berrien County. Other wildlife license plate donations benefit the Bobwhite Quail Initiative (BQI), a program specifically designed to help bring back wild populations of the GEORGIA OFFICIAL STATE GAMEBIRD!!! With budget cuts to the BQI, the only funds it will now receive to perform critical work on bobwhite quail are tag donations. Because of these GEORGIA LICENSE PLATE DONATIONS, sportsmen have more access and opportunities than ever before.
If things were not already bad enough in Washington, a Washington, D.C.-based dolphin group wants that money. EarthECHO International convinced state legislators to introduce HB 639, a dolphin tag that will send Georgia dollars to Washington, D.C. This will reduce the amount of funding for sportsmen's access and opportunities statewide. This international group has set up official offices in Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina: http://www.protectdolphin.org. All the official phone numbers listed on their website ring to the same voicemail. There is not an office staff or state directors -- only an address, centralized voicemail, and a toll free fax number to either Washington, D.C., Boca Raton, Florida, or California. Who knows where Georgia dollars will go?
The bill is pending in the Georgia Senate Finance Committee. Please send this message to your state Senator OPPOSING HB 639. This effort to send Georgia donations out of state will continue unless Georgia sportsmen and women work to keep our wildlife funding working for us. Tell your Senator you want our license plate donations to continue working at home for our children and grandchildren, and for future generations of hunters and anglers. Tell them to oppose HB 639. Keep Georgia donated dollars in Georgia for Georgians!
Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:
Your State Senator
A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.
Oppose HB 639
Dear Senator,
Thank you for your service to our district and the state of Georgia. As a concerned Georgia sportsman, I want to express my opposition to HB 639 that would send Georgia license plate donations for wildlife out-of-state. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, Non-Game Section receives no general appropriations. Instead, it relies solely on donations, primarily through the sale of wildlife license plates. Additional wildlife plates benefiting out-of-state organizations will reduce the amount of funding available to our Wildlife Resources Division and its efforts to support hunting, fishing and all wildlife in Georgia.
These funds are necessary to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat IN GEORIGA! The existing wildlife license plate donations have been critical to the state's ability to purchase WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS and PUBLIC FISHING AREAS where thousands of Georgians hunt and fish with their families. These license plate donations have most recently been used in support of the Georgia Land Conservation Program to help buy the Paulding Forest WMA, the Ft. Barrington Tract and the Silver Lake WMA. Because Georgians donated to a Georgia cause, thousands of acres are now available to all Georgians for outdoor activities that include our outdoor traditions of hunting and fishing. These license plate donations help implement the Bobwhite Quail Initiative in support of Georgia's Official State Gamebird! Georgia has become a primary hunting and fishing destination in North America; our donations support the multi-million dollar economy surrounding these activities. Please do not allow an out-of-state entity to extract Georgia dollars from Georgias license plate donations. Oppose HB 639. Use your influence with the members of the Senate Finance Committee to stop this bill and consider introducing legislation to prevent this from ever happening again.
Thank you for hearing my concern and for opposing HB 639. Again, thank you for your service to Georgia and the sportsmen and women in our district.
Sincerely, Your name and address here
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This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.
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